


Benn's Books

by TazersKaner (msrogersstark)



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Angst, Bookstore!AU, Dallas Stars, M/M, Past Abuse, tags to be updated as story is updated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-15 02:13:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2211900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msrogersstark/pseuds/TazersKaner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It appears that Jordie must have zero concept of how many people actually visit this bookstore, because Jamie walks in, the first Monday of September and Jordie is sitting in the lounge area, debriefing their newest ‘teammate’ (Jordie’s word for employee) on the book store protocols.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know what you're all thinking.   
> "She started a new series she's never going to finish."  
> Well I am. At least I'm going to try to.  
> \--  
> Un-beta'd

It appears that Jordie must have zero concept of how many people actually visit this bookstore, because Jamie walks in, the first Monday of September and Jordie is sitting in the lounge area, debriefing their newest ‘teammate’ (Jordie’s word for employee) on the book store protocols. The new kid is pretty cute, Jamie will give him that, but he’s not looking forward to adding a new kid to their ‘roster’. They already have Val, the most recent of the new kids, who speaks very little English, Kari, who juggles multiple jobs and is almost never at the bookstore (but he’s really close to Jordie so…), and Jamie himself. Jamie doesn’t really think that the debriefing needs to happen, because it’s a bookstore. It’s not that hard.

The kid gets up and shakes Jordie’s hand before turning to see Jamie standing there.

“Oh that’s Jamie.” Jordie gestures to Jamie lazily.

“Hi,” Jamie waves bashfully, before tucking his hands back into his pocket.

“I’m Kevin.” The kid smiles at Jamie. Jamie flushes because, well, a cute guy is smiling at him.

“Nice to meet you.” Jamie tells him, with a quick smile and then Kevin is out the door.

“Don’t get any ideas.” Jordie announces, flipping through the files in his hands.

“Uh, what?” He frowns, walking closer to where his brother is sitting.

“Well, you know, it’s been a while since, you know…” He makes a jacking motion with his hands.

“You know I don’t-“ Jamie starts, looking away from Jordie’s obscene motions.

Jordie sighs, closing the file and raises his eyebrows at Jamie’s scared look.

“It’s called a joke,” He stands up and makes his way towards Jamie. “I know you don’t do that. It’s ok.”

Jamie takes a quick breath. He knows this. Jordie was the one that told him it was ok in the first place.

“I’m just saying, even if you did do that, he’s off limits. Barely even legal anyway.”

The bell on the door jingles, announcing the presence of a customer and Jordie waves Jamie out the door with a sympathetic pat on the back.

 

The customer it turns out, is a twenty something girl with blue hair, who’s looking for the newest Anime book. She prattles on about the series she’s looking for, something that starts with an “N”. Jamie is too old for this shit. He says he’ll look in the back and tells her to have a seat in one of the uncomfortable modern chairs that Jordie insists make the place more welcoming. It makes Jamie unsure of how his brother manages to have an interior designer for a boyfriend.

He locates the book, notices that it’s got a very similar looking girl on the cover and rolls his eyes. If he looked like his favorite book character, he’d need a lightning shaped scar on his forehead, and terrible eye sight.

 

Since the bookstore is located near the University, there are students in there almost all of time. Jamie is pretty sure that it has to do with the fabulous coffee that Jordie can make and the free, high-speed wifi. When it’s cold out, it’s sometimes crammed so full that Jamie can barely see the shelves. Jamie also has the pleasure of going to school part-time with some of these kids. One of the regulars is this brunette from Jamie’s lit class, who is always smiling at him. He hasn’t got the heart to tell her that he’s completely uninterested so he will just smile back. Jordie says it’s leading her on, Jamie just thinks it’s being polite.

 

Jamie knows everyone that sets foot in the bookstore, not by name, but by appearance. That’s why it’s very very weird to see a new customer, when he is forced to work the counter.

“I-I having class.” Val manages to explain to Jamie, and Jamie _always_ feels bad for the kid. He tries so hard, and fails so easily.

Jamie tells him to have fun before taking Val’s spot.

He pours 3 cups of coffee and it’s about to make a new pot, for himself maybe, but Jordie doesn’t pay him nearly enough anyway, when the bells jingle and the door slams shut.

Carefully, Jamie sets the pot down and steadies himself to give the guy a stern talking to, and casually ask him to never come back, at least not while Jamie’s in charge, when the customer ducks behind a row of shelves labeled World History.

Great, Jamie thinks, he’s going to have to chase this one.

 

It’s raining outside so he follows the squelching of the shoes as they make their way speedily across the already damp carpet. The customer presses close to the shelf and, upon hearing Jamie’s footsteps, quickly snatches the nearest book, holds it in front of his face, in a terrible attempt at seeming innocent.

“Excuse me sir but we don’t tolerate that sort of behavior-“

“Look, I don’t even care, I just have to hide from some people. I’ll never come back, I swear.” The customer interrupts, walking a little away from Jamie and cowering behind the shelves.

The door jingles and two burly guys stamp inside and scan the room quickly. The new guy shrinks back behind the book and mumbles something, which sounds distinctly like “I thought I was done with this shit when I left high school.”

The men turn and leave, letting the door close loudly behind them.

Jamie is about to start asking him to leave again, when the kid sets the book down on the shelf and gives a sigh of relief. He’s red and panting, almost like he ran the last few blocks from the University to here. The kid is shivering; he wasn’t even wearing a winder breaker over his tight t-shirt. Tattoos line his arms, and Jamie lets his eyes wander. The heat is thrumming along behind the quiet chatter of people but the kid can’t shake the chills. Jamie doesn’t blame him, it’s raining pretty hard out there. The customer hugs himself and looks like he’s about to break down.

“Come with me.” Jamie crooks a finger at the new kid and starts to walk.

“Am I getting in trouble? I didn’t mean any harm, it’s just cold outside, and I needed a place to hide from those guys. Really, I won’t do it again.” The kid babbles as they walk.

“Relax.” Jamie tells him flatly, opening the door to the back of the store. He knocks on the door to Jordie’s office, but it just swings open, no Jordie insight.

“What’s your name?” Jamie asks the kid, walking into the office and closing the door behind both of them.

“Hmm? Oh, uh Tyler. Tyler Seguin.”

The ki-Tyler, looks hungrily at the chair across from Jordie’s desk and Jamie gestures to it. “Have a seat, Tyler.”

“What’s your name, cutie?” Tyler asks, plopping down in the chair and leaning back, watching Jamie’s ass as he walks around to the other side of Jordie’s desk and sits down. Jamie sighs. Of course, this is the guy he had to find. He’s had his own unpleasant experiences with kids like Tyler before and he’s definitely too old for this shit.

“I’m Jamie.” Jamie admits with a sigh.

Tyler shudders once, and Jamie is about to be offended when he realizes that Tyler is still dressed in his sopping clothes.

“Stay here.” Jamie says, standing up and trying very hard not to yell at Tyler when he feels his eyes on him again.

 

He returns about 10 minutes later, a cup of coffee in one hand and a pair of sweats with a clean shirt in the other. He slides the coffee to Tyler and places the clothes next to it.

“First, you change into something warmer. Then we talk.” Jamie tells him and Tyler’s face lights up.

“Really?”

Jamie just looks at him. “I’m not going to say it again.  Washroom’s down the hall.”

He briefly worries about Tyler not coming back. It wouldn’t be the end of the world. All he would lose is a Stars t-shirt and a pair of Target sweat-pants. Something in the back of his mind, the annoying part, tells him that he sort of actually likes Tyler, and that he’s extremely easy on the eyes. It just sucks because he’s had someone like Tyler before, and it all went to shit.

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He expects Tyler to be gone when he gets back. He isn’t that lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's short and it probably sucks i'm sorry :(  
> \--  
> Un-beta'd

Apparently something lured Tyler back (Jamie’s willing to bet that it’s the coffee) because he comes back a few minutes later and interrupts Jamie’s worrying by dropping his clothes and bag against the desk and making a very enthusiastic noise at the coffee. Jamie briefly wonders if that’s what he sounds like when he’s getting his dick sucked. But then he doesn’t. Because he doesn’t do that anymore.

 

Once Tyler’s done with the coffee, he looks sheepish again. Jamie steels himself and says, with a little too much feeling in his opinion, “Who were those guys?”

“Assholes.” Tyler replies, crossing his arms and attempting to look less tiny and worthless.

“Uh huh.” Jamie nods, trying to convey how much he’s done dealing with this bullshit. “Why were you out in the street while it’s pouring rain.”

“They chased me.”

“Where are you from?”

“What are you? The fucking police?”

Jamie rolled his eyes. “You aren’t from here are you?”

Tyler looked away. “Boston. Or at least, I was.”

Jamie sighs. “Look, Tyler, this isn’t Boston. It’s Texas. Dallas is a quiet city. Let it be that way.”

“Tell it to those assholes.”

He could hear the bell outside jingling.  “Excuse me for a second.” Jamie mumbles and stands up, heading out to deal with the people at the counter. He expects Tyler to be gone when he gets back. He isn’t that lucky.

 

“So I was just reading a textbook, right? And then they came out of nowhere. I’d seen them before I think, the locker room maybe? Football players I assume. And then they just started to chase me. So I got the hell out of there.” Tyler explains, shifting uncomfortably in the chair as Jamie watches him.

Jamie nods, and runs a hand through his hair. Tyler watches him anxiously. “What does this have to do with High School?” He asks, watching Tyler for a response.

“What d’you mean?”

“I mean, you mumbled, and I quote ‘I thought I was done with this shit when I left high school.’”

“Why aren’t you flirting with me?”

Jamie blinked. “What does _that_ have to do with your high school experience?”

“People just generally flirt back, that’s all.”

Jamie slammed his hand down on the table. “Do you want a ride home or not?”

“A-a ride?”

“Yes a ride. And not on my dick. In a car, to your house. Because you were an idiot and you didn’t wear a jacket.”  
Tyler flushed, the tips of his ears turning bright pink.

“Yeah, yeah I’d like that. Thanks.”

Jamie gave him a quick smile and grabbed his coat.

 

Unfortunately, Jordie also wanted a ride home. Jamie was nearly ready to punch him when, as they got in the car, he laughed at Tyler and said, “Cute twink you’ve got there, J.”  
Jamie opens his mouth to respond but Tyler beat him too it.

“Fuck you, I’m a top.”

“Sure you are.” Jordie rolled his eyes. “Get it the back, top.”

Jamie slid in shotgun and shot Jordie a dirty look.

Jordie and Tyler talked the entire ride home, while Jamie stared out the window and tried not to fall in love.

 

Again, it was just his luck that Tyler owned an apartment in the same building that he and Jordie did.

“How does he even afford this place?” Jordie muses after they’ve dropped Tyler off at his condo. “We can barely afford it and we both pay rent.”  
“Maybe it’s because he doesn’t work in a stupid bookstore.” Jamie snaps and heads into his room.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Because you have a crush on him.”  
> “Because I don’t want to have a crush on him. I’m not 18 anymore, Jordie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow it's taken me a long time to write this. I'm sorry but I suddenly got inspired again and I'm working on Chapter 4 :). So, I hope you enjoy it!   
> \--  
> Un-beta'd  
> \--  
> I'm pretty sure I changed the 'tense' in this chapter and if it really bothers anyone, I'll do my best to fix it but I like it better like this I think.

When Jamie wakes up, Jordie’s made him a cup of coffee that’s still stingingly hot, meaning he’d only just left to go to the bookstore. It’s Saturday, and Jamie’s got the afternoon shift at the store, which would generally lead to him sleeping late but Tyler, Tyler is an issue and Jamie’s just met him. He knows he can’t afford to let this guy worm his way into his thoughts because Jamie falls fast and he gets obsessed as easily as a teenage girl over a hot fictional character. His brain makes him do anything, everything possible to make that person like him. And it doesn’t always lead him to the nicest people. If Jordie hadn’t come home early that one evening in March… Jamie doesn’t want to think about where he’d be now.

 

He dicks around for most of the morning, alternating between checking his social media, studying for his English final and shooting things with his xbox. He actively stays inside all morning even though it’s the first day this week where it hasn’t been raining and the sun is actually peeking through the clouds. His goal is to avoid Tyler until he forgets the delicate features of his face, the way he looked _too_ good in Jamie’s sweatpants, even though they were just a bit too big. Tyler’s small, Jamie could probably hold him down; in fact Tyler would probably like that. Jamie swears under his breath as he dies, distracted by how forward Tyler was, how his eyes glinted when he flirted shamelessly with Jamie. Jamie really wishes he could flirt back, if he hadn’t been mad at Tyler he probably wouldn’t have been able to say a word to him at all. Jamie’s only known Tyler for an hour but he knows that Tyler flirts as easily as he breathes. It makes Jamie really mad but it’s also slightly endearing and everything is so complicated. He slams his controller down on the couch and gets up to get ready for work.

 

When he arrives at _Benn’s Books_ , Jordie is busy re-shelving the returned books and there is a resume on Jamie’s desk with a note in Jordie’s careful printing,

**Your favorite bottom wants a job.**

To Jamie’s horror, Tyler’s name is written across the top of the resume in perfectly messy handwriting. The bastard can not work here, Jamie’s fragile resilience can’t handle that.

 

He storms out of the back and power walks over to Jordie.

“What the fuck is this?” He demands, crumpling up the note from Jordie and chucking it at his head.

Jordie makes a show of setting down the books and unsticking the note from where it had taken up residence in his messy hair.

“It’s exactly what it says, J. Tyler just so happened to be in need of a job and so I told him we were hiring.”

“We just hired someone yesterday!”

“Jamie, we draft new teammates to our roster all the time, it’s always nice to give people a place to work if they need a job.” His tone is condescending and rude and Jamie wants to take one of the books and hit Jordie over the head.

“Anyone else can work here. Just not him.” Jamie grits his teeth.

“Because you have a crush on him.”

“Because I _don’t want_ to have a crush on him. I’m not 18 anymore, Jordie.”

Jordie’s face tightens at the real meaning behind those words. It’s got nothing to do with his age, it’s got to do with the fucker that screwed Jamie over. Jordie just wants him to be happy for a change.

“Jamie,” Jordie says quietly, fixing him with a fond look, “he could be good for you.”

“Jordie, I’ve done this before.”

“It was one time!”

“If you hadn’t walked in-“

“But I did.”

“You just met, Tyler.”

“Brenden agrees with me.”

“You talked to Brenden about this?!”

“Just give him the interview, it’s policy.” Jordie sighs.

People are staring now and Jamie can feel himself getting hot.

“Do it yourself if your that desperate to follow ‘policy,’” Jamie fumes and stomps back to his office.

_“I thought I was done with this shit when I left high school.”_ Tyler’s words keep ringing in Jamie’s head and it’s driving him insane. He’s helped 3 customers but it’s slow today and Tyler’s resume is burning a hole on his desk like the question in his head. What had happened to Tyler in High School? Maybe Jamie isn't the only one with a terrible past the haunts him at night. It sticks in his head, Tyler shivering in the back corner because people chased him, looking timid like Jamie might try to poison him with a free cup of coffee, how he looked so grateful for a cheap pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Jamie’s got friends, he and Tyler can be friends, just like all of the attractive people Jamie knows. It won’t be that hard. So he picks up the resume and carefully types Tyler’s number into his phone.

_Be here at 10am tomorrow and I’ll ask you some questions and stuff about the job_

Then, _it’s Jamie by the way, from the bookstore, um yeah_

He definitely does not refresh his phone for the next 10 minutes until Tyler types back,

**Aww no hi, tyler, hope your all warmed up and your resume looks really good and I was really hoping you might be able to come by?**

Jamie rolls his eyes hard. _Do you want the job or not?_

**I’ll be there**

 

  


 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Feedback are always appreciated :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please, please please, let me know what you think. I NEED THE FEEDBACK TO CONTINUE


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